The Writers Guild Announces Its Screen Nominations

Just one day following the announcement of the Producers Guild of America’s ten nominees for the Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures as well as other key nominations, the Writers Guild of America have announced the 2013 nominees for outstanding achievement for writing for the screen. The winners will be announced and honored at a ceremony simultaneously held in New York and Los Angeles on Saturday, February 1, 2014.

The original screenplays that received nominations include American Hustle, written by Eric Warren Singer and David O. Russell, Woody Allen’s Blue Jasmine, Dallas Buyers Club by Craig Borten & Melisa Wallack, Spike Jonze’s Her and Alexander Payne’s Nebraska, written by Bob Nelson.

(Noticeably absent was the screenplay for Alfonso Cuaron’s Gravity which may have been written without involving the WGA, making it ineligible.)

Noticeably absent from this category were the highly-praised screenplays for Steve McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave and Stephen Frears’ Philomena, although being British, they may have also bypassed the WGA while writing the screenplay. When it comes to the Oscars, there’s a good chance the Academy screenwriters will pick one or both of those two over Lone Survivor or Captain Phillips.

The documentary screenplays honored included Jeremy Scahill & David Riker’s Dirty Wars, Sara Lukinson & Michael Stevens’ Herblock – The Black & The White No Place on Earth, written by Janet Tobias & Paul Laikin, Sarah Polley’s screenplay for Stories We Tell and Alex Gibney’s We Steal Secrets: The Story of Wikileaks.

You can read the full press release below and see a list of all the nominations including the television ones on the WGA site.

The Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW) and the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) have announced nominations for outstanding achievement in writing for the screen during 2013. Winners will be honored at the 2014 Writers Guild Awards on Saturday, February 1, 2014, at simultaneous ceremonies in Los Angeles and New York City.

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

· American Hustle, Written by Eric Warren Singer and David O. Russell; Columbia Pictures

· Herblock – The Black & The White, Written by Sara Lukinson & Michael Stevens; The Stevens Company

· No Place on Earth, Written by Janet Tobias & Paul Laikin; Magnolia Pictures

· Stories We Tell, Written by Sarah Polley; Roadside Attractions

· We Steal Secrets: The Story of Wikileaks, Written by Alex Gibney; Focus Features

Feature films eligible for a Writers Guild Award were exhibited theatrically for at least one week in Los Angeles during 2013 and were written under the WGA’s Minimum Basic Agreement (MBA) or under a bona fide collective bargaining agreement of the Writers Guild of Canada, Writers Guild of Great Britain, Irish Playwrights & Screenwriters Guild, or the New Zealand Writers Guild. Theatrical screenplays produced under the jurisdiction of the WGA or an affiliate Guild must have been submitted for WGA awards consideration.

Documentaries eligible for a Writers Guild Award featured an onscreen writing credit and were exhibited theatrically in Los Angeles or New York for one week during 2013. Theatrical documentaries must have been produced under the jurisdiction of the WGA or an affiliate Guild to be eligible for awards consideration.

The Writers Guild Awards honor outstanding writing in film, television, new media, videogames, news, radio, promotional, and graphic animation categories. The awards will be presented jointly at simultaneous ceremonies on Saturday, February 1, 2014, in Los Angeles at the JW Marriott L.A. LIVE and in New York City at the Edison Ballroom.